2011 Schedule and Draft Information

Kansas City holds the 21st overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft

The dates may not be set, but the Chiefs know the basic layout of their 2011 schedule. We briefly touched on Kansas City’s 2011 slate of opponents last week, but Wildcard Weekend overshadowed the news a bit.

As always, the Chiefs will play each member of the AFC West twice. Kansas City will also cross-over with games against the entire AFC East and NFC North divisions. As AFC West champion, the Chiefs will be matched up with the AFC South and AFC North champions as well.

The Chiefs will face off against six teams that qualified for the 2010 playoffs. As a whole, Kansas City’s 2011 opponents owned a 112-96 (.538) record in this season. The Chiefs entered the 2010 campaign with the NFL’s 22nd-toughest strength of schedule (.488).

In theory, the Chiefs 2011 schedule gets more difficult.

Preseason opponents should be determined in late March or early April. A schedule that includes dates and times should become available in mid-April. The NFL released the complete 2010 schedule last year on April 20th.

We do know that NFL Kickoff 2011 Weekend will begin on Thursday night, September 8th, and the regular season will conclude on January 1st. Wild Card Weekend will be Saturday and Sunday, January 7th-8th; Divisional Playoff games on the weekend of January 14th-15th; and the AFC and NFC championship Games on Sunday, January 22nd.

The 2012 Pro Bowl will be played at Aloha Stadium on Honolulu, Hawaii on Sunday, January 29th. Super Bowl XLVI will take place at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana on Sunday, February 5th.

Fans will see that the 2011 schedule is similar to that of 2008 with the Chiefs again traveling to New England and New York, while hosting Miami and Buffalo. The same can be said for the 2007 slate with Minnesota and Green Bay both coming to Arrowhead again, while the Chiefs travel to both Chicago and Detroit.

The scheduling formula implemented in 2002 with realignment guarantees that all teams play each other on a regular, rotating basis. After the 2008 season, a decision was made to continue with the same rotation in 2011.

Here are the Chiefs 2011 opponents and their respective 2010 records.

2011 Home Opponents

Denver (4-12)

Oakland (8-8)

San Diego (9-7)

Buffalo (4-12)

Miami (7-9)

*Pittsburgh (12-4)

*Green Bay (10-6)

Minnesota (6-10)

2011 Road Opponents

Denver (4-12)

Oakland (8-8)

San Diego (9-7)

*New England (14-2)

*New York Jets (11-5)

*Indianapolis (10-6)

*Chicago (11-5)

Detroit (6-10)

*indicates 2010 playoff team

As for the 2011 NFL Draft, the Chiefs are now cemented into the 21st position. The NFL Draft will kick off in primetime for the second consecutive year with the first round to be held on Thursday, April 28th. The second and third rounds are set for Friday, April 29th. The fourth and fifth rounds will be held on Saturday, April 30th.

The draft order is determined by the following procedures:

(A) The winner of the Super Bowl will select last and the other Super Bowl participant next-to-last, regardless of their regular-season record.

(B) The Championship Game participants not advancing to the Super Bowl will select 29th and 30th, according to the reverse order of their standing.

(C) The Divisional Playoff participants not advancing to the Championship Games will select 25th through 28th, according to the reverse order of their standing.

(D) The Wild Card participants not advancing to the Divisional Playoffs will select 21st through 24th, according to the reverse order of their standing.

(E) Non-playoff clubs will select first through 20th, according to the reverse order of their standing.

1 - Carolina (2-14)

2 - Denver (4-12)

3 - Buffalo (4-12)

4 - Cincinnati (4-12)

5 - Arizona (5-11)

6 - Cleveland (5-11)

7 - San Francisco (6-10)

8 - Tennessee (6-10)

9 - Dallas (6-10)

10 - Washington (6-10)

11 - Houston (6-10)

12 - Minnesota (6-10)

13 - Detroit (6-10)

14 - St. Louis (7-9)

15 - Miami (7-9)

16 - Jacksonville (8-8)

17 - Oakland (8-8)

18 - San Diego (9-7)

19 - N.Y. Giants (10-6)

20 - Tampa Bay (10-6)

21 - Kansas City (10-6)

22 - Indianapolis (10-6)

23 - Philadelphia (10-6)

24 - New Orleans (11-5)

*25 - Seattle (7-9)

*26 - Green Bay (10-6)

*27 - Chicago (11-5)

*28 - N.Y. Jets (11-5)

*29 - Baltimore (12-4)

*30 - Pittsburgh (12-4)

*31 - Atlanta (13-3)

*32 - New England (14-2)

*subject to playoffs

Since the AFL/NFL merger in 1970, the Chiefs have held the 21st pick three times. Those players drafted by Kansas City at #21 include…